Hoboken recommends temporary car sharing parking zones

HertzHoboken is working to select 90-day car sharing parking zones at various on-street locations for its new car sharing program with Hertz Corporation. This is one of Hertz's featured cars, a Toyota Prius at Liberty State Park in Jersey City.

Last week, Hoboken City Council approved a resolution permitting the establishment of 90-day temporary car sharing parking zones, entitled "Hoboken Corner Cars," at various on-street locations. Now it’s up to individual Council members to comment on the Transportation and Parking Department's

Council President Peter Cunningham said the Council person for each ward has the opportunity to either work with their community or choose locations as they see fit for where the allocation of cars will be located.

Over that period of time, about 17 cars per car-sharing vehicle could be taken off the streets, thus creating additional parking, noted Transportation and Parking Director Ian Sacs.

There would be no monthly or yearly fee to residents but rather a hourly rental for using the service. Sacs said he’s working with Hertz to offer a $75 incentive to residents to see if it’s for them. For residents willing to give up a driving decal, it’s a $100 incentive.

Residents asked Sacs if they could request specialty vehicles such as pick-up trucks and vans and he replied that the city would do its best to acquire them.

“The objective of this program to serve 100 percent of the community – not only in the highest-revenue areas of the city, so there’s an equitable component of this program,” Sacs said.

Zipcar, located at 77 Park Ave., is the city’s current car share service. There are 23 available cars that serve about 25 percent of the city and are very difficult to reserve over the summer, Sacs said.